Cherub Vassago
Cherub Vassago is a young wizard that had recently revealed to be a remnant of the Netheril Empire whose power had been largely diminished, though slowly returning. He is also the living embodiment of the Nether Scrolls. He is currently banished by Mystra for a successful attempt on stealing Azuth's divinity and may or may not return. |rules = 3.5 |alignment = True Neutral; Formerly Chaotic Neutral, Neutral Good, Neutral Evil |patron deity = Overgod Ao; Formerly Mystril, Mystra, Mystra (Midnight) |languages = Common, Celestial, Undercommon; Others }} 'Personality ' Although Cherub seems cheerful and naive most of the time, he is actually very sensitive to the feelings of others and especially those that he cares. He is trying to be helpful all the time, and some would thought he would fare better with a holy symbol instead of a magic staff. However, to think that he would be oblivious to such things such as politics or wars is unthinkable, as Cherub is sensitive to such things. To play a fool is different than being a fool. Cherub’s patience can only be outmatched by his empathy, he is not prone to anger at all (but watch out when he erupts) and he is a sincere friend that one can always depend on. He is also more studious than his peers, making him having bits of knowledge here and there but he would only share it with someone he is familiar with. Although he has little wish to fight, he know what must be done and will follow orders accordingly. He wouldn’t follow it blindly, but if he feels that the orders are unjustified, he would retreat without a single thought. He would rather he himself is harmed than harm another that is his friends. Since Cherub was raised by his mistress, the enigmatic Archmage Sariel, he is very obedient to her. Thankfully, she is not someone who likes to bark orders around. ''Post Undermountain'' Ever since his meeting with Cianier and the tampering and experiments made by Halaster on him, Cherub had largely, on a mental scale, left broken as he was thrown away like a broken doll once Halaster was done with him. Tainted by the insanity left by Cianier’s memories, as well as Halaster’s maddening influence, Cherub had managed to keep his mind sound for a time before his heritage was revealed to him, although it was not entirely clear but the effects had already taken roots in his already fragile mind. And all shattered into a million pieces. Cherub now walks on the fine line between sanity and insanity most of the time. Talking to himself while completely act in a chaotic pattern, weeping while singing songs that would chill the cores of most monsters into a block of ice; this were just the few things that he would act when he was alone. As his memories was slowly restored to him, he could only accept the many aeons worth of memories slowly as he was consumed in his own grief and the feeling of living in a world of lies. Despite his ties to the ancient Netherese, Cherub bears no loyalty or sympathy to its survivors. If provoked (even by the Shades, who called themselves successors to the legacy of the Netheril Empire), he would lash back with equal ferocity to those who had angered him without mercy. Death would be the first thing that they hoped to gain. 'Appearance ' Cherub is about 5’6 and has a frail build. Not exactly the tallest in the family, or most of the men around his age. He wears a black and purple robe with a dark gray cloak made of linen, fit for a mage apprentice like himself, although his magical prowess would prove to be a match to most wizards. His attire lacks symbols or markings of any sort, making him seem anonymous even up close. His hair is a medium long with his side burns reaching his mid ear and has a small pony tail. His silky hair is silver in color, and he got a pair of silver white eyes to pair them with. His facial feature is very feminine, and with the smile he always put on his face, he could be very easily misidentified as a young lady. He rarely wears anything else on himself unless it is absolutely necessary. For small items, his belt with several pouches would usually suffice to put them in. Even his cloak is actually made to hide things in so placing his stuff is usually not a problem unless it’s too large for him to carry. He always have small items such as bandages, vulnerary, scissors prepared in one of his pouches. ''Post Undermountain'' Ever since his awakening, strange lines and symbols like that tattooed on a Thayan Red Wizard could be seen covering most surface of his skin (Including his hands and even his fingertips), including his face. This tattoo cannot be erased by any means, as it was a manifestation of Cherub’s heritage and his legacy as a ‘Living Nether Scroll’. His silver hair had since became black, a proof that he descent from the Netherese. Even his once silver pupils, which had turned black, were covered with ever changing lines, patterns and symbols similar to his skin. Cherub hadn’t changed from the perspective of size and build, nor has his general taste changed. However, he usually hooded himself from the general populace now that his physical appearance had changed so much. Sometimes, he would resort to illusion spells and Shapechange spells to change his appearance and to avoid scaring people from his strange markings. Of course, this was just a lie he told himself to cover his own insecurity and lack of self confidence, and his confusion over the purpose of his existence. 'History ' ''Winters in Icewind Dale'' Cherub was one of the few apprentices under the tutorship of a little known archmage known only as ‘Sariel of the Moons.’ Sariel herself was an archmage of great power; some said that she was at par with the mad wizard Halaster of Waterdeep, the Symbul, or even Elminster himself. However, she seemed to care little for the affairs of ‘mere’ mortals but concentrated only at refining herself and her students in the usage of the Arts in the icy realms of Icewind Dale, near the monstrous town of Icegrace. According to Sariel, magic and spells are not only weapons and shields, they can also become one’s hands and feet, but even wings and claws. Why constrain yourself to what your logic is limiting you? The Art in itself is never ending and ever changing, and its limits exist only by your imagination and thoughts. To study the Art itself is to study the Weave, the magic it contains, and beyond. Cherub listened to his mistress’s lecture many years ago, understanding little then as he was still a young whelp to the ways of the arts, years after he was reportedly ‘picked up’ and raised by the mistress of the Archmage. Cherub was an orphan, unusually wise beyond his years. He never knew who his parents really were, and he never wanted to know. For whatever his parents let him stayed under his mistress’s feathers, he didn’t want to find out. He decided on this when he was barely five years old, after he peeked at his older peers’ parents visiting them in the archmage’s tower. Even if his heart throbbed with pain. He worked hard after that, trying to ease the pain in his heart through this kind of distraction. Sariel had no desire of telling him of his own story as well, as she decided that it was best for him not to know – as well as a form of punishment for sins that he had committed, but had forgotten. Although people said that to forget your own past was to forget a piece of yourself, but it was too hard to bear for five years old Cherub. He selectively ‘forgets’ things that he didn’t want to remember and he instinctively forced himself into his world of magic, occupying himself with books and experiments, as well as practicing the arts through weaving magics and talents that he hid even from his peers. It became an instinct, to forget and seal things that he does not wished to remember. Sariel was watching all of this with a pair of cold eyes and did not intervene even as Cherub suffered alone. To her, it was a light punishment to all the sins he had committed in his past life. Sins, that he would have to pay alone. In the following years, Sariel poured knowledge after knowledge into the little head of Cherub as he grown, although he would absorb all the knowledge like a sponge, sometimes even astonished Sariel with some of his magical theories and thinkings. Some wizards could only access the Weave in a much later date, but Cherub was able to grasp the power of the Weave even when he was just a child. Some thought that he was a sorcerer instead of a pure wizard, but he knew how he got his powers from. From the old dusty tomes sitting in every single shelves in the library as well as Sariel’s tutoring, although Sariel had been refraining from teaching him too much, fearing that the old monster would rise again from the mind of the simple lad. She had seen him growing, and she could not believe that the innocent child, scarred and pained, was once one of the great schemers from the ancient ages. From that day onward, Sariel gave him his own magic laboratory (all students share one before they could cast at least a first level spell) and masterwork alchemist tools, as well as supplying him with a variety of herbs and alchemical substances. As he continued his study and his crafts, he also slowly opened his heart, and faced his old self and memories that nearly shattered him (although he had seen nothing yet, for the true forgotten memories have yet returned). Through sheer will power, he had overcome his own weakness and sorrow, opening a seemingly brighter path to the future. Unknown to him, his dream is doomed to failure. There is no avoiding Destiny when she comes walking onto your doorsteps and knocked on your door. With Sariel’s tutorship, the youngster was able to grasp theory after theory, spell after spell with remarkable speed. When he was eighteen, he was already able to conjure up bolts of lightning, something that even some of her older students were not capable of yet. She could only sigh when she remembered who the child truly was. The blood of the ancient Netheril flows within him, even if his hair was as white as the snow falling within the Dale, and his eyes were as gray as the clouds hovering upon her tower. Soon, she decided to send him out to experience the world. Although he was very intelligent in a wizard’s point of view, but it would be useless to keep him under her watch every single day. She knew she would regret this decision one day, for not keeping him in a short leash. But then again… She hoped, after so many years, she hoped that Cherub could grow up differently. She ushered him to adventure and explore beyond her vast tower, far away from Icegrace. ''Through the Underdark'' Without much of a choice, Cherub parted from his only family, the Archmage and left for one of the Tentowns in Icewind Dale. He had travelled to Easthaven as his first stop, and from there he would eventually purchase passage towards Luskan. However, Auril’s wrath at the time forced him to change his path as the passage towards Easthaven was blocked by an avalanche. Without much of a choice, he stayed in Kuldahar for a while, a small town under a great tree, and befriended many of the simple people and used his arts to help around town to earn a living, as well listen to the teachings of the Archdruid. Things were serene and peaceful for a while until a band of adventurers and mercenaries turned up in the quiet town, formed by many races, and requested help to go through the Underdark and to return to the other side of the Spine of The World, and into main land Faerun, as the only path to the nearest harbour town was blocked and they couldn’t get across (Easthaven, and later into Targos). After consulting with the Archdruid, the adventurers restocked and rested in Kuldahar before leaving. Cherub decided to volunteer and join the adventurers, since they have similar goals as well. He was able to quickly convince the adventurers and mercenaries that he would be able to protect himself and provide some degree of protection to the group as well through his wizardry. The path he took was a long and painful one, with challenges at every corner as his hands began to be smeared by blood of other sentient creatures. He hated the feeling, but he quickly became numb to the displeasure as he felt something deep within him yearned for more. The adventure within the Underdark was a perilous one indeed. The mercenaries, numbered to the fifties, were leaving bodies behind. First, it was just a few as they fought against the Duergars through their mines. They evaded the Duergars’ operations although a few of the encounters with their patrols leave a few of them dead. As they go deeper into the Underdark, the battles became even more brutal as they faced the Drow with their Duergar slaves. The Drow were well-armed, well-organized and they slaughtered the mercenaries with ease as they ride on their giant spiders mounts, hunting them like animals. Less than half of the mercenaries were able to survive, while the other half were either dead or scattered throughout the Underdark. Cherub had even witnessed a few of them were captured by the Drow. They couldn’t do anything to bring them back, and although hesitant to leave the others behind, Cherub knew that they were right. They were too weak, and there was nothing that could be done. With more than half of them wither dead, captured or missing, Cherub and the battle-hardened mercenaries continued their march, heading south. Hopefully leaving the Underdark before worse monsters and creatures were spilled forth unto them. The next wave of terrors unveiled themselves in the forms of a small war between a group of Mind Flayers and Beholders. The mercenaries were able to employ stealth, and with a smaller group, slipped past the two monstrous races as they warred with each other for territory. Cherub’s powers quickly grew in the face of danger, and he used his every-growing magical abilities to help the group going through undetected. And then the Drow came again. With no place to run (nor desire to), the mercenaries resisted the Drow raiding party with all their might. Cherub quickly used his spells to turn the tides of the battle against the Drow by drawing attention from the nearby clans of Illithids and Beholders. Chaos ensued between the four groups as each battled for supremacy. Although the mercenaries didn’t win, they all were able to escape fully before any of them were killed, although one-third of their numbers were seriously injured. Those who were injured didn’t survived due to poisoned weapons, and they were burned into char. Their remains shall not be desecrated by Drow necromancers. Unknown to the others, Cherub himself practiced necromancy, but of course… He didn’t call upon the power of undeath to bolster their numbers. With about twelve people left, the mercenaries finally saw sunlight, and they were able to escape from the Underdark. The cavern they escaped from was near Luskan, and with a spell, Cherub and two other surviving elven mages used their spells to seal the cavern with rocks and earth, stopping any Drow raiding party from following them. The rest of the mercenaries escaped into the city of Luskan to lick their wounds, and tell tall tales of their survival of the Underdark, of which few had managed. There were about 50 of them, but only thirteen survived. After rested for a few days, Cherub found himself braving the roads again together with a few of the adventurers. Out of the twelve, two dwarves and an elf decided to go to Neverwinter. Cherub joined these three and, while escorting a caravan, made their way into Neverwinter to the south of Luskan. The adventures in the Underdark may have caused him to become scarred for life, both physically and mentally, but he was hopeful for the future. ''Neverwinter'' Cherub and the rest of the party made it into Neverwinter without much of a problem. His magic spells were more than enough to take care of the troubles that popped up during the journey towards the city. However, things became more… troublesome. A strange plague seemed to hit on Neverwinter. Cherub was able to leave Neverwinter before its gates were completely sealed shut, but his adventuring partners, who wished to look for gold and fame, stayed in Neverwinter. He never heard from them again. ''The City of Waterdeep'' Eventually, he made it to Waterdeep. Alone, and filled by the grief of his companions’ abandonment, he travelled slowly, but surely, further down. He acted as a sword-for-hire for a while, living as a mercenary until he arrived at Waterdeep, where he was able to purchase an abode – both as a laboratory and for living. Unable to return to Neverwinter, he made Waterdeep his new home where he eventually found work as a bar tender in the Laughing Titan welcomed by the elven bard Edlyn Amastacia. They became life-long friends as Cherub studied in Waterdeep’s most famed guild and academy – the Blackstaff Academy, where he further dwelled in the study of the Arts. It was also here that his talents as an alchemist became widely explored and his reputation as one is spread throughout Waterdeep. His talents draw the attention and jealousy of many of his fellow wizards, and some looked down upon him as he worked in a bar as a bar tender. There was nothing he did to refute any of his fellow wizards in this regards. He felt… safe, when he was with Edlyn. He felt, for once in his life, belonged to somewhere. He would give up his own talents to stay at a home like this. But little does he know that it would not be long lived. ''Search for the Nether Scrolls'' Cherub was later requested, at the behest of the Blackstaff Academy to find the ruins of an ancient city, and from within, retrieve the Nether Scrolls if it existed. Cherub fought with Drow and a Shade under the city of Waterdeep, who seek to find the Nether Scrolls as well. However, he had an advantage over the Drow and Shade, he have the backing of the Lords’ Alliance as well as the precise location of the Nether Scrolls. He was able to make his way to the Farsea Marshes beyond the Sunset Mountains, where the rumoured ruins of a creator race lies. Surely enough, the ruins were there. The first layer seemed to be abandoned and sacked. He had even fought some goblins that made their home out of the ruins. He eventually found a passageway that led deeper down to the ruins, which was remained untouched for many years. The path he descended into the lower levels of the ruins seemed to be some kind of ventilation shaft. As he made his way through the ruins while fighting off giant spiders and centipedes, as well as the occasional undead wights and wraiths, he eventually explored most of the ruins and pinpointed the scroll’s location in a chamber deeper underground with the help of divination spells, which seemed to work unbelievably well for him. This is, unknowingly, because of his connection with the Nether Scrolls at the first place. He successfully retrieved the Nether Scroll, but when he was going to destroy it, it began to flash in a strong light, knocking out Cherub for three days and three nights. Instantly, the ruins came alive as gears grinded and its security systems were activated, along with all its magical defences. When he woke up, the Scrolls were nowhere to be found. He assumed that someone must have taken the scrolls from him while he fainted, although he was oblivious to the fact that there was a stigma on his back, slowly pulsing and radiating with magical powers. Cherub made his way back to Waterdeep and reported his failure to the Blackstaff Academy, he was excused as the Lords’ Alliance knew of the treachery – it seemed someone else had known of the scrolls’ existence and were dispatching adventurers and agents to retrieve them as well. There was no news on who have the Nether Scrolls now, but they had suspected that the Shades may have something to do with this. ''Dealing with the Shadowsong'' Cherub had made a friend in Roland Shadowsong, a young noble that was going to be killed by an assassin through poison. Roland survived with Cherub’s timely intervention in Edlyn’s bar as he teleported him into a nearby temple which lifted him of his afflictions. Roland was grateful with Cherub and the two became quick friends. However, this invited the rage of the assassin William Listakian, and through magical means Cherub knew that William would be on to Roland again. Cherub made this known to Roland, who only replied with despair. Cherub decided to help Roland out of this situation by planning his fake death. As was predicted, William came one night and assassinated Roland and his whole family. Cherub managed to teleport Roland out before his death is imminent and healed him of wounds with a potion. Cherub confronted William with celestial lions, but William, who is a skilled assassin in his own right, managed to heavily wound Cherub. This forced Cherub to flee from William, but not before injuring the assassin as well when he shape-changed into a dragon. The only mistake he made was not giving the assassin a killing blow, a decision that would haunt him for a long while. ''As Seraph Samigina'' After sending Roland (who changed his last name from Shadowsong to Silentwisp) into the safety of Icewind Dale, Cherub devised a plan by creating a simulacrum to be killed by the assassin, who was hell bent in killing him. Cherub shapechanged himself into a woman, sith slight facial features and call himself Seraph Samigina. Due to the fact of his already small frame, his ruse was hardly recognized by anyone. Before he left Waterdeep, he was engaged by an elf with a big ‘heart’ (and proportionately big pride) with the name of Ares. They had a few adventures together before William tracked down simulacrum Cherub. Though powerful in his own right, simulacrum Cherub was killed by William with his new found infernal strength after a battle that shook the city of Waterdeep. The city guard was able to recover ‘Cherub’s’ body and a dwarf guard recognize him as Cherub, Edlyn’s bar’s famous mixologist (aka The Dwarves’ Bane). With a lot of grief and sadness, Cherub was buried in an ancient place protected by powerful magic to prevent the grave’s defilement. The real Cherub was there, and witnessed Eddie’s sorrow. He could feel the pain tearing through him, but he couldn’t do anything… There was nothing he could do. ''Three Sisters War: Prelude to War'' Cherub travelled, and for the first time, without an aim. He found an unlikely friendship in both William (whom he didn’t realize as the assassin that ‘killed’ him, and vice versa) and Ares. He even aided William in one of his quest for power and Ares in stopping a local orcish horde from overrunning a district in Amn. They even fought through the Nightmare King’s maze of horror, where he witnessed one the shadow prince’s ancient power which brought him to realize that, his teacher, the Archmage Sariel may be wielding ancient powers from the time of the Netherese as he realized techniques that he had used in his spellcasting were very similar to hers. Sometime after this, he went back to Icewind Dale and met up with Roland Whisperwisp (previously Roland Shadowsong), who is now an accomplished bard as well as returning to meet his master Sariel. Resolved to not running away again, he went to his grave to ‘revive’ himself. In fact, he was just trying to destroy the simulacrum and so he could be him again. However, what he saw angered him so much that he brought upon the wrath of the heaven upon the defilers of his grave, and those who had protected his resting place. In the end, he ended up faking his own revival through an illusory ‘Wish’ spell and giving up some of his soul essence as he fought off two Cult of the Dragon cultists, hoping to bend ‘him’ into their will through necromancy. Cherub and Seraph, for quite some times, were two separate identities… And they both went back to Waterdeep… ''The Silence of Llolth'' The news of the sudden disappearance of Llolth stirred the worrywart inside Cherub. Secretly, he assimilated the simulacrum back into himself as he once more become whole (and become Cherub). Cherub had decided that it would be best to keep himself out of trouble as he seek out Edlyn, who went off in a pirate ship, worrying about her safety… He never had the chance of doing that, however. Cianier Dy’Nien, right hand (wo)man of Argus the Dread Pirate (who was also Eddie’s lover) came to seek assistance. He helped her cleared her dark and painful memories with a potion of which he had brewed for his own use, but the backlash caused him to absorb some of her memories and was tainted by her insanity. It was also here that he was hinted of his true heritage. Halaster Blackcloak, Mad Mage of Waterdeep and master of the Undermountains, came shortly afterwards, and with a rage, the two did battle with Cherub losing the fight. Cherub was shortly contained within Undermountains as the mad mage’s plaything for a while before he was bored with him, and threw him into a random layer of the Undermountains like a small girl bored with her old toy. There, Cherub was further corrupted by the power of chaos and psychopathy that his very mind and soul was forever altered. This prompted him to seek the answers to which is forbidden. During his stay in Undermountains, he used every magics that he knew to divine the illusions that he saw in his dreams. It was then he found out that it was not an illusion, but it was a fragment of his memory… A memory that he never thought he had. ''Revolution to the Origins'' He had dreams… Dreams of memories, of a ‘him’ that he couldn’t even remember, living in the Age of Netheril. From the memories, he discovered that he had not always been Cherub Vassago. Many aeons ago, he was known as another name of which he refused to recall. He was a powerful and cunning wizard in the Age of Netheril when the scrolls were first unearthed by the Finder, where he slowly becomes a selfish and power hungry Archwizard who used his influence in the councils of various enclaves to improve his own standings in later years. With the aid of the Longevity spell (that he had perfected long before Ioulaum did, and does not require the life force of multiple mages – it strips the life force of all living things and transfer it to the caster), he was able to live far longer than normal wizards could while preserving his youth. He studied the arcane together with Congenio Ioun, researched the magical Mythallar with Ioulaum and debated with the genius Karsus. He had also raise Mythallars and Mythals and helped other Archwizards in carving their own enclaves on mountains. He was also the one that had hands in spelljamming, exploration in the Realmspace and financing its efforts. More than once, he was able to take glances at famed artefacts of the Netheril – The Nether Scrolls. He desired them for his own use. Through careful schemes, planning and extraordinary patience (he waited for more than 2,500 years), he was able to steal the Nether Scrolls from the empire. The scrolls, however, was initially incomplete. He had only obtained the full set of the Nether Scrolls after Netheril Year 3195. During the centuries of studies involving the Nether Scroll, he was shocked that it would take an eternity to completely study the scrolls, if there was ever an ending, that is. However, during the event that transpired (Karsus’s Folly) during Netheril Year 3120 changed all that. He knew Karsus personally, and knew that he was a genius --- a true genius. His death was a warning to all surviving Archwizards, that the gods are not to be trifled with. It was fortunate (or unfortunate) that he had used multiple longevity spells to extend his life far into the future that Mystra’s change of the law of magic did not affect him immediately. Using secrets that he was able to recover from the Nether Scroll, he developed the first of many time travelling spells: Time Conduit. By using this spell, he would teleport back in time, in hope to stop Karsus’s Folly from ever happening to prevent the Netheril from ever falling and disrupt the weave. However, he was confronted by Mystryl herself who stopped the time traveller from finishing what he was going to perform. He failed to negotiate a way to provide him access to the past, as Mystryl explained to him that her death was inevitable. As the Mother of All Magic, she herself knew fully of what was going to transpire. She promptly blasted him back into the present timeline with her divine power, forever engraving him with a taste of divine power. No one could and should tamper with the current time line, and Mystryl herself acted as Time’s guardian. Defeated, the wizard would delve further into the Nether Scrolls for many years to come, concealing his existence as best he could as he tried to find a way of undoing all the damage that was done. But he was denied even that after the destruction of the last three enclaves at that time (He had no idea that the Thultanthar Enclave had escaped its fate and would rename it The City of Shades after many years to come). Feeling that the burden of recreating the fallen Empire lay not with him, , he quietly contemplate and gleamed secrets off the scrolls. His rigorous study had revealed to him a new form of knowledge and magic: Epic Spells. This new discovery led him to believe that magic is ever changing, and Epic Spells and High Magics were revealed to him only because Mystra had banned 10th level spells and above, as well as all their forms. He had even gleamed through the scrolls and learned many rituals, and scribed them within his secret libraries. When the Cormanthyrian elves begin their march into the continent of Faerun, he was marvelled at many of the wondrous creations that they had created over time. He was marvelled not because of the wonders themselves, but because of the similarities that he could discern from the forms they took. He had seen them, through the Nether Scrolls, although the elves had corrupted many of the scrolls’ knowledge into elves-specific knowledge and powers. He concluded that the elves must have a set of scrolls themselves, or even more. However, without a driving force or a desire, he watched in cold eyes as Cormanthyr fell into a decline just like the Netheril Empire did. Their pride was their undoing, and he was not going to move a finger to give them aid, although through some minor engineering, he was able to push Cormanthyr’s decline into a faster pace, of which finally lead to the elves’ creation of Evermeet. The memories slipped into chaos after that, but at the end, all he could remember was that something happened to him. He remembered that he was fused with the Nether Scroll. From that point onwards, he was the Nether Scroll, and the Nether Scroll was him… And a modified casting of the Time Conduit spell turned him into an infant, and he was then sealed in a Temporal Stasis spell by the wizard’s closest companion and another survivor from the time of Netherese’s fall – the Archwizard Sariel. Everything was a blur during and after that event, everything. Overtaken by feeling of despair due to his most trusted person’s betrayal, Cherub allowed the madness to guide him within the Undermountains, becoming one of Halaster’s most joyful ‘creation’ as he blaster adventurers and inhabitants of the Undermountain alike into smithereens with his powers, which are slowly returning to him. After so many years of being sealed, they are more than eager to tear up all foes that stood in their ways. However, this Cherub was not the man from Netheril. He could not understand nor comprehend his old ways, from betraying his own country to causing the fall of Cormanthy indirectly. He also couldn’t understand his jealousy against the Elven High Magi and Karsus. In his new journey of self-discovery, he left behind a trail of flesh and blood in his wake as he heads towards the surface of Faerun, into Waterdeep as Halaster looked with glee at his newest ‘creation’… ''Cry, Scream, for the Distorted One'' Cherub’s new powers would allow him to properly claim a place among Faerun’s most powerful as his memories resurfaced. Although his old personality was slowly resurfacing along with ancient knowledge of the past, he was still able to control himself. Feeling that the whole world is a lie, Cherub desired to carve, with his bare hands if needed, to find the truth behind all his existence. He first turned towards Sariel of the Moon to seek for answers, but only to find a devastated Icegrace, with Sariel befriended by a multitude of beings of equal powers. He questioned Sariel on his existence, and Sariel told him a truth that further pushed him into the brink of despair and destroyed all his hope. He had prayed that he would be a living individual, but the truth shattered even his final ray of hope. He was a clone of the original Netherese Archwizard, his body weaved from the matters that created the Nether Scrolls as an attempt to create a never ending well of knowledge. However, he seemed to be different from the Archwizard – Although he was created from a fragment of the Archwizard’s soul so that he could be controlled like a puppet, his soul was completed on his own. He was not the Archwizard. He was himself. When asked where the Archwizard was, Sariel shook his head in denial. She told him that he was long dead. When he created Cherub, his whole body, mind and soul was completely tore apart by the sheer power the Nether Scrolls held. Cherub would end up as a living Nether Scroll without a mind of his own if Sariel hadn’t intervened then, by saving what fragments of the Archwizards’ souls and merged them with the Cherub who was turned into an infant by the Archwizard’s last spell that he was able to cast – “Time Conduit”. Knowing that there was nothing more he could do, he left Icegrace, left wandering the face of Faerun. It wasn’t until a time where his despair caught him. In a desperate attempt to recover his state of mind, he attempted to cease the power of a god. He knew about Karsus’s Folly, so instead of stealing the power of a deity as powerful as Mystra, he stole the power of Azuth. The timing he chose was perfect as Azuth was too busy fighting against a pair of spellweavers and their servants, who were more than a match for the lesser deity. In a critical timing, Cherub managed to steal Azuth’s divinity from him and the spellweavers struck the former deity, almost killing him if it wasn’t for Mystra, Savras and Velsharoon, who intervened just in time in preventing Azuth’s death. As Mystra elevated one of the spellweavers to godhood (with Sune complaining about Mystra stealing her favoured servant), Cherub was brought back to Dweomerheart to be judged. The divinity he had stolen from Azuth was promptly returned, but as he refused to submit himself to Mystra (who was more than happy to elevate him to deityhood as well, as a Deity of Artifice, governing the portfolios of Artifice, Crafts and Magic Items, of which he had rightfully earned), she banished him into the deeper Plane of Shadows, never to return again. Deep within the Plane of Shadows are doorways into other worlds, and from here, Cherub unconsciously drifted into the new world of Kalamar, and later Eberron. Cherub had also drifted from one world to another, including but not limited to the Iron Kingdoms, Azeroth, the many variations of Earth, and many more. 'Character Sheet ' Cherub Vassago is no longer meant to be a playable character. Category:True Neutral Category:Wizard Category:Netherese Arcanist Category:Epic Character and NPCs Category:Human Category:Inhabitants